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Tom Watson Wants Answers On PGA Tour-LIV Golf Merger

Eight-time major champion Tom Watson wants answers on the PGA Tour's new business partnership with Saudi backers of LIV Golf, asking in a letter Monday to Commissioner Jay Monahan if the deal was the only way to solve the tour's financial hardship.

That was one of several questions posed by Watson in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press and was sent to Monahan, the PGA Tour board and "my fellow players."

He said the questions were "compounded by the hypocrisy in disregarding the moral issue."

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Tom Watson gets ready to hit in the honorary starter ceremony before the first round at the Masters golf tournament on Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Augusta, Ga. Eight-time major champion Tom Watson wants answers on the PGA Tour's new business partnership with Saudi backers of LIV Golf, asking in a letter Monday, June 19, 2023, to Commissioner Jay Monahan if the deal was the only way to solve the tour's financial situation.  (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

On the day after Wyndham Clark became the latest major champion by winning the U.S. Open, focus shifted back to an issue that has consumed golf for the last three years. It took a stunning turn June 6 when the PGA Tour announced it had joined with Saudi Arabia's national wealth fund and the European tour to put commercial businesses under one roof.

Monahan has referred to it as a "framework agreement" and he had few answers for players in a meeting two weeks ago at the Canadian Open. A Player Advisory Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday ahead of the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.

Monahan, who stepped away for a "medical situation" on Wednesday, is not expected to attend. Two of his top executives are in charge of the tour's day-to-day operations.

The tour said in the June 6 announcement that Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund, would be chairman of the new company and Monahan would be the CEO. Two PGA Tour board members, Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunne, would join them on the executive committee.

PAIGE SPIRANAC ON WYNDHAM CLARK'S US OPEN WIN: 'WE ALL KNEW HE'D MAKE IT'

Yasir Al-Rumayyan attends the champions ceremony at the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago tournament Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Sugar Hill, Ill. The most disruptive year in golf ended Tuesday, June 6, 2023, when the PGA Tour and European tour agreed to a merger with Saudi Arabias golf interests, creating a commercial operation designed to unify professional golf around the world. Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, will join the board of the PGA Tour, which continues to operates its tournaments.  (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

The deal contains assurances the tour would keep a controlling voting interest in the new commercial entity regardless of how much the PIF contributes, according to a person who has seen the agreement.

The person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been made public, said the agreement allows for a financial investment from PIF and pooling the three parties' current and future golf-related investments. That would include LIV Golf.

The agreement said the new company's board would have majority representation appointed by the PGA Tour, the person said. The PGA Tour would still have full authority on how it runs its competition.

Still missing are key details such as the future of LIV Golf. Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau have said they are planning for a 2024 season.

WYNDHAM CLARK REMEMBERS LATE MOTHER AS HE CELEBRATES US OPEN TITLE

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Ct., speaks to reporters Wednesday, May 31, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.  (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., suggested Sunday that congressional hearings could be held within weeks.

Blumenthal is chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He said on CBS's "Face the Nation" the subcommittee wants facts on what went into the deal and who was behind it and details on the structure and governance of the new company.

"There are very, very few details," Blumenthal said. "But remember, what we have here is essentially a repressive, autocratic foreign government taking control over an iconic, cherished American institution for the clear purpose of cleansing its public image," he said.

One key to the agreement was ending all litigation. The PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf filed a motion on Friday to dismiss with prejudice the antitrust lawsuit LIV players filed in August, the countersuit the tour filed in September and even a PIF appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to avoid having to give depositions in the lawsuits. They cannot be refiled.

WYNDHAM CLARK HOLDS OFF RORY MCILROY TO WIN US OPEN

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan looks on following the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2023 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Monahan has said the lawsuits — a trial date was not expected until at least the middle of 2024 with plenty of filings in between — had contributed to a "significant" hit to the tour.

Watson said in his letter: "Is the PIF the only viable rescue from the Tour's financial problems? Was/is there a plan B? And again, what exactly is the exchange?"

He mentioned hypocrisy twice, especially as it relates to criticism from groups such as 9/11 Families United on the tour's reversal.

"My loyalty to golf and this country live in the same place and have held equal and significant weight with me over my lifetime," Watson said. "Please educate me and others in a way that allows loyalty to both, and in a way that makes it easy to look 9/11 families in the eye and ourselves in the mirror."

Watson isn't alone among his questions. The Justice Department's antitrust division has been reviewing the golf landscape since last summer, and now it is starting to look at the tour's agreement with the Saudis and whether it violates federal antitrust laws. The inquiry is in its early stages, as the agreement is barely 2 weeks old and still is being finalized.

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FILE - PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks during a news conference before the start of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Monahan has said everything in the framework agreement would be subject to board approval.

Blumenthal told CBS he thought a hearing would be possible "within weeks."

"The American people deserve a clear look at the facts here," he said. "Again, not prejudging what the conclusions will be. But what the Saudis are doing here is not taking control of a single team or hiring one player. They are, in effect, taking charge of the entire sport, and it's not just a Saudi individual. It is the regime."

Khan Hopes To Tap Into Canadian Wrestling Tradition With Forbidden Door, Canadian Tour

From visits from the likes of Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt  to "Whipper" Billy Watson, Lou Thesz and Harley Race winning the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship at Maple Leaf Gardens to Hulk Hogan and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson facing off in front of nearly 70,000 people at SkyDome, Toronto's pro wrestling history is a rich one.

It was this tradition that All Elite Wrestling president and booker Tony Khan hoped to tap into in bringing the 2023 Forbidden Door pay-per-view event to the city's Scotiabank Arena on Sunday night. The card will see the stars of AEW face off against the best that New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) has to offer, headlined by a highly-anticipated rematch between IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay and a dream encounter between two men widely considered as the best wrestlers of their generation in "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson and "Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada.

"Toronto is one of the greatest cities in the world for pro wrestling," Khan told TSN.Ca. "The fans here in Ontario are so passionate about wrestling and AEW has a great base of support here around Toronto and I wanted to bring one of the biggest events in wrestling here to Toronto. We've been expanding our television presence recently and this is such an exciting time for AEW, so not only did I want to bring Forbidden Door to Toronto, but I wanted to bring all of our TV shows to the area."

Saturday night kicks off an AEW residency in southern Ontario with a live broadcast of the promotion's new Collision TV show, followed by the PPV on Sunday and then a pair of events in Hamilton, Dynamite and Rampage on Wednesday and Collision on Thursday.

You can catch AEW Collision LIVE from Toronto's Scotiabank Arena at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN5, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.Ca.

"I believe we're gonna a have a great audience for those shows and I think the fans in Toronto are so loud and passionate about wrestling, but they also turn out in great numbers, so it's the best of both worlds where you have packed arenas full of great fans who are passionate about the product and are loud and supportive of the shows," Khan said.

The build towards Forbidden Door in Toronto has gone much more smoothly, Khan admits, for him and his NJPW booker counterpart Gedo this year than it did for last June's inaugural edition.  While last year's show was very well received, the company experienced an unprecedented run of major injuries to top stars heading into it with the likes of Omega, Danielson and CM Punk all sidelined and unable to appear.

"We've had a better time of it," Khan said of putting together Sunday's show with Gedo. "It's not our first time working directly together on Forbidden Door, so we had built experience and a strong rapport and trust. I think this year has been better. Last year, the show was widely considered to be the best wrestling event of 2022. It won numerous awards and it was voted by fans and multiple publications as the best wrestling event of the year. That was incredible given all the challenges that we faced approaching the show. So many major stars were out. I couldn't believe it was happening as it was happening. So many big stars were injured last year in different ways, all around the same time last June."

Khan says Sunday's PPV is set to be the third-highest grossing show in the history of Toronto wrestling behind only WrestleMania VI in 1990 and WrestleMania X8 in 2002, both held at SkyDome. The 11-match card features five different title matches, including Maxwell Jacob Friedman putting the AEW World Championship on the line against NJPW icon Hiroshi Tanahashi and SANADA defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry. But it's a non-title match that has created the most buzz amongst fans with seven-time world champion Okada facing six-time world champion Danielson in what many believed would be a match that would never take place with both men never having worked in the same company at the same time.

"I'm so excited for it," Khan said. "It's unfathomable to me that this is happening. I'm so pleased that Bryan Danielson versus Kazuchika Okada is a reality this weekend. It's a dream match for so many wrestling fans all over the world. People all over the planet are anticipating this weekend's event knowing that Okada versus Danielson is happening at Forbidden Door."

Before Forbidden Door comes Saturday night's second edition of Collision, which debuted last week. It marks the promotion's third weekly show on Turner networks with Dynamite on Wednesdays on TBS and Friday night's Rampage and Collision both airing on TNT. Khan notes that while the addition of a third show changes the structure of the company's deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, it does not alter its duration.

"We have this amazing roster and we felt like it was the time to expand our television presence," Khan said. "Warner Bros. Discovery offered us a slot on Saturday nights and I wanted to develop that slot into the best possible home for AEW that we could build…I think we've established a real fan base now that supports AEW and follows our shows and we believe this can translate to launching a franchise on Saturday night and I think that's going to be very successful for us."

The debut of Collision from Chicago last week also marked the return of Punk to the promotion. The last time Punk was seen in AEW was at a now-infamous press conference following last September's All Out pay-per-view. After he defeated Jon Moxley on the show to become AEW World Champion for a second time, a fiery Punk aired a series of grievances, some professional and some personal, against fellow wrestlers at the press gathering. But Punk never had the opportunity to defend his newly regained title because he incurred a torn left triceps during the match with Moxley and spent almost nine months recuperating.

Khan says Punk's return is a boost for the promotion.

"It's been great to have CM Punk back in AEW," Khan said. "The fans are very excited. It's been very positive. Collision was a great show and everybody was very excited about the launch of this new AEW franchise. At [this past Wednesday's] AEW Dynamite, we had another great show. I think so far it's been a big success having CM Punk back in AEW and I'm glad he's back."

Punk will compete at Forbidden Door, but not against the opponent many were expecting for him. Punk will be taking on Japanese legend Satoshi Kojima on Sunday's card in the first match of the 2023 edition of the Owen Hart Foundation Cup, a now annual tournament in honour of the late Calgary-born superstar. The match most thought would be lined up for Punk was one against NJPW star Kenta "KENTA" Kobayashi. Punk adopted KENTA's "Go 2 Sleep" finisher – where an opponent is dropped face first from a fireman's carry position into a knee strike – as his own several years ago, something that has rankled KENTA over the years. Despite KENTA teasing a match on social media, Khan says one wasn't close.

"I never had a serious talk with KENTA about it," Khan said. "I was very excited when I did talk to New Japan about the possibility of Kojima, who I brought up as who I thought to be a dream opponent for CM Punk. It's somebody who's one of the most decorated champions ever in Japan taking on somebody who's one of the most decorated champions ever in the United States."

Khan says the idea of Punk taking on Kojima was an intriguing for him.

"Satoshi Kojima was the first person ever to hold [All Japan Pro Wrestling's] Triple Crown Championship and the IWGP Championship at the same time," Khan said. "He's also held the GHC title, being the champion of [Pro Wrestling] NOAH, holding another globally honoured crown. I think they're arguably the two most decorated wrestlers in the sport, so I definitely wanted to see Punk versus Kojima. When I learned it was a possibility and that Kojima could be available for this, I was very excited for this personally because it's a match I've always wanted to see."

When AEW finishes its run in Ontario next week, it won't be done with Canada. The promotion continues on with four more stops in Saskatchewan and Alberta over the next two weeks, culminating with the conclusion of the Owen Hart tournament during the Calgary Stampede.

"It's great for AEW to be here because we have so many awesome fans in Canada and I think it's really cool that we're able to do the shows here in a country where there's such an amazing history of pro wrestling," Khan said. "We have such a great fan base and a lot of great Canadian wrestlers, several of whom are going to be competing at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view event with big names like Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega involved in the show. I believe going forward this tour is going to be great outreach for AEW to make even more fans in Canada and continue to build our base here. We've also had some great TV ratings in Canada and we can continue to build our presence on TSN."

The tour will take AEW to Edmonton on July 5, Saskatoon on July 8, Regina on July 12 and finishing in Calgary on July 15.

CEO Of Titanic Sub Tour Is Aboard Vessel, Company Says

The CEO of the company whose submersible went missing during a visit to the wreck of the Titanic on Sunday is now aboard the vessel, the company said.

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush is among the five people on the submersible, which rescuers are racing against the clock to locate as its oxygen supply dwindles. On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Coast Guard estimated there are about 40 hours of breathable air left in the 21-foot vessel.

The Titan submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply when it began its dive at 6 a.M. Sunday. A Canadian research ship lost contact about two hours into the expedition.

Rush was joined by British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, and French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet on the trip to see the wreck from 1912.

At least 10,000 square miles have been searched thus far, and sonar buoys and a P8 Poseidon aircraft capable of detecting objects underwater have been deployed as part of the search and rescue effort, according to the Coast Guard.

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